


A Side Quest in Mabe Village (alternate chapter 44)

by DarkAcey



Series: Bonus content from Not My Namesake [3]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Action/Adventure, Best Friends, Deleted Scenes, Gen, Good Ganondorf (Legend of Zelda), Link (Legend of Zelda) Uses Sign Language, Monster Hunters, Post-Breath of the Wild, Post-Calamity Ganon, Selectively Mute Link (Legend of Zelda), Trans Male Character, Trans Male Zelda
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:33:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24958432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkAcey/pseuds/DarkAcey
Summary: While traveling to rid Hyrule of evil once again, the legendary trio is asked to help the people of Lon Lon Ranch and Mabe Village take care of a particular monster problem.This chapter was cut fromNot My Namesakebecause I decided to go with a different direction for the story, but it works on its own as a ficlet.
Series: Bonus content from Not My Namesake [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1806355
Comments: 2
Kudos: 18





	A Side Quest in Mabe Village (alternate chapter 44)

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Not My Namesake](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22827259) by [DarkAcey](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkAcey/pseuds/DarkAcey). 



> If you came here without reading Not My Namesake, some notes for context  
> \- NMN takes place 100 years after the fall of Calamity Ganon, so the kingdom has been rebuilt  
> \- Zelda is a trans man  
> \- Vaati in this fic is from the manga version of Minish Cap, so he's a good tiny person. He's also Gan's friend, and a large part of the reason Gan grew up into a good person before meeting Link and Zelda.  
> \- Gan's mothers are Koume and Kotake (Twinrova), and they're the ones who caused monsters to return to Hyrule

Link stopped their wagon at Mabe Village’s inn. After they tied up their horse so she could rest and drink at the trough outside, they went in to get a late lunch. Its quaint dining space held about a dozen tables and a small wooden stage in the back, but it was currently empty. As they walked to the counter, Ganondorf bumped his head on a hanging lamp.

“Ow, shit.” Ganondorf grabbed the lamp to stop its swinging. He looked down at the small old man behind the counter, who looked ready to have a seizure, and noticed the other patrons staring and whispering.

Link noticed as well and looked up at Ganondorf with sympathy. Zelda went ahead and examined the chalkboard behind the counter with the inn’s current list of food options. They had meat pies, wheat bread, cream of mushroom soup, carrot stew, and salt-grilled meat and greens. Looking back at his companions, he asked, “What do you guys want?”

 _“Meat pie and mushroom soup,”_ Link signed. _“I will get seats.”_ He walked off to an empty table by the unused stage.

“Okay,” Zelda said before giving the innkeeper their orders. He also picked the meat pie, but got carrot stew with it instead.

Ganondorf came up to the counter. “Can I have the salt-grilled meat and greens?”

“Um, do you want a regular portion?” the old innkeeper asked, having to tip back his head to look up at the Gerudo.

“Hmm… No, go ahead and double it.”

“All right.” After Zelda paid him, the innkeeper said, “Your food will be right out.”

When Zelda and Ganondorf joined Link, he was looking at the map on the Sheikah slate. Zelda leaned over Link’s shoulder to look at it with him. “How much farther do you think we’ll be able to go today?”

Link zoomed out on the map and dragged it to put Mabe Village in the top right corner. He pointed to a crossroads southwest of it labeled Hyrule Garrison Ruins. _“Garrison is not ruins today, so tonight we can stay with knights.”_

“Can we not go farther?” Zelda asked.

_“No. We left late. We will be lucky if we make it by nightfall. More likely we will arrive after dinner.”_

Zelda sighed and stretched his arms across the table. He laid his forehead on top with a thud.

Ganondorf shared the sentiment, though he settled with just frowning. A minute later, he heard someone walk up to their table and turned his head, but found it was one of the other patrons instead of their food. The man looked like a farmer with his homespun clothes and straw hat hanging on his back. “Uh, can I help you?” Ganondorf asked.

“Yes,” the farmer answered hesitantly. “I couldn’t help but notice your armaments. Are you mercenaries?”

Zelda lifted up his head and looked just as surprised as Ganondorf. “No?” Zelda answered. “Why’re you asking?”

“Well, since the blood moon, it’s been difficult to protect our livestock,” the farmer said. “The knights the castle sent us haven’t been enough to keep the ’blins away, and none of them will do anything about the blue hinox on the hill just south of the ranch. Since you three look strong, could we ask for your help?”

Zelda looked to Link and Ganondorf. Link raised his hands and shoulders, unsure. Ganondorf said, “I’m not opposed to punting some bokoblins, but I’m less certain about the hinox. Can we spare the time?”

“Well…”

“Please, if you can fight the hinox, we would be incredibly thankful,” the farmer insisted. “We’re scared it’s going to leave its hill any day now and come for us.”

Zelda didn’t want to deny the farmer’s plea, but he also knew that if they took the time to go fight the hinox, they would certainly not sleep at the garrison tonight. He looked back at the Sheikah slate and examined the map. If they left for the garrison in the morning, it looked like they would probably make it there around noon. From there they could arrive at Gatepost Town by nightfall and be poised to mount the Great Plateau first thing the next morning.

“We’ll do it,” Zelda said, looking back up at the farmer. As the innkeeper arrived with their food, he added, “Just let us have our lunch first.”

“Oh, thank you!” the farmer exclaimed. “I will wait for when you’re ready.”

While the farmer returned to his table and the innkeeper put down their plates and bowls, Link signed, _“You sure about this?”_

“He said the knights weren’t going to kill the hinox, so we can’t just leave them.”

_“Knights are probably waiting until it becomes an active threat. It’s not hurting anyone on its hill.”_

“Yeah, except their peace of mind,” Zelda answered. “And besides, you didn’t think we’d make it to the garrison by nightfall anyway. We might as well do something productive with our delay.”

Ganondorf raised an eyebrow. “You’re assuming we even _can_ defeat this thing.”

“I don’t see why we wouldn’t be able to.” Zelda shrugged and he picked up his meat pie. “You could probably handle it by yourself. With me and Link, it might go down quick enough for us to still get to the garrison tonight.”

Ganondorf couldn’t deny Zelda’s logic. He had never fought a hinox before, but he had defeated molduga and plenty of other, just as deadly constructs made by his mothers. “As long as we don’t make a habit of picking up side quests, I guess it’ll be fine.” He took Vaati out of his cloak and set him on the table so he could share their meals.

* * *

Zelda began to have second thoughts when he saw the blue hinox. The massive creature was larger than a house. As it slept in its grove on the hill over Lon Lon Ranch, its rumbling snoring could be heard all the way from the road.

“So, what’s the plan?” Zelda asked.

Link summoned a royal bow from the Sheikah slate and held it up. Ganondorf drew the master sword and said, “I’ll get up close while you and Link shoot at its face. You’ll do more damage with your fireballs than with that toothpick on your belt.”

Zelda frowned as he glanced down at his rapier. “It’s not that useless, is it?”

“Against a person, it’s probably fine, but monsters like this?” Ganondorf nodded towards the hinox. “It’d probably break before you finish the job.”

“Gee, thanks.” As if he didn’t feel pathetic enough.

“Just being honest.” Ganondorf reached into his cloak and held out Vaati. “Take him. If I get hit, I don’t want him getting hurt.”

“Oh, okay.” Caught off-guard, Zelda held out his hand. Vaati jumped onto his palm. He wasn’t sure where to keep the Minish, but Ganondorf already begun creeping ahead. Zelda mentally swore and looked down at Vaati. “Will you be able to hold on if I put you on my shoulder?”

“I think so,” Vaati answered. Zelda lifted him up. After Vaati climbed on and knelt down, he gripped Zelda’s shirt. “Ready.” While Zelda hurried after Ganondorf with Link on his heels, Vaati said, “We should make a better way for you to carry me.”

“I’ll let you figure out something after we take out this thing,” Zelda answered. When they were only a few yards away, he and Link flanked the hinox while Ganondorf continued closer.

Ganondorf hit first. He jumped up and struck the hinox’s side, waking it with a jolt. As it threw its weight to its feet and stood, Ganondorf continued hacking at its thick hide. Link fired arrows in rapid succession. Zelda raised his hand and launched a fireball as large as its single, yellow eyeball.

The hinox roared and fell back onto its bottom as both Link and Zelda hit its face. Ganondorf slashed its fat stomach. In less time than they expected, the monster succumbed to exhaustion and vanished in a puff of purple smoke.

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed reading, be sure to leave comments/kudos and check out the full story, [Not My Namesake](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22827259)!


End file.
